Watching Teams' Fortunes Sink Slowly in the West

If the National Basketball Association season ended today, three teams with sub-.500 records would be in the playoffs. And all of those teams would be from the Western Conference.

Dallas (8-13) would make the playoffs. So would the Los Angeles Clippers, who are 10-14 after defeating Phoenix, 122-121, in overtime last night. In fact, most teams from the West are struggling to play .400 ball.

Remember two seasons ago, when Houston had won its second consecutive championship, and the West was clearly the stronger conference? Times have changed. The four teams at the top of the West -- Houston, Utah, the Los Angeles Lakers and Seattle -- are all legitimate contenders. But from top to bottom, the East is a better conference.

What happened? Some usual contenders from the West -- Phoenix and San Antonio -- have taken major falls. The Spurs won 59 games last season, and 63 games the season before. But the back injury that sidelined David Robinson for San Antonio's first 18 games led to a dreadful start that cost Coach Bob Hill his job. General Manager Gregg Popovich, who looked bad by firing Hill on the same day that Robinson returned, took over as coach last week.

The Suns (7-16) bear little resemblance to their once-powerful teams. They have played better since Danny Ainge replaced Cotton Fitzsimmons as coach, and Kevin Johnson's return to the lineup has brought direction and continuity to the offense. But Phoenix is still not a good defensive team, and when the Suns traded Charles Barkley to Houston, the rebuilding process officially began.

A major difference between the East and West is defense. Through Sunday, the five teams allowing the fewest points per game were: Cleveland (82.0), Atlanta (85.7), Detroit (86.0), Miami (87.3) and Chicago (88.7). All five are in the East, where the tempo is slower and the defense is better.

Parish Can Still Surprise

The Chicago Bulls signed Robert Parish during the off season for insurance, and the league's oldest player has already paid dividends.

With the starting center Luc Longley (separated shoulder) on the injured list, the 43-year-old Parish has moved into Chicago's rotation as the backup center to Bill Wennington. Parish has played well, averaging 5.8 points a game, while shooting 56.5 percent from the field.

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Coach Phil Jackson closely monitors Parish's minutes, but the veteran center has been spry enough to surprise the Bulls at times. Last Friday against the Nets, Parish beat everyone down the floor for a slam dunk, and Chicago's bench broke out in laughter. But behind the smiles, there was respect.

''I don't tease him a lot about being old, because me and him are two of the oldest guys on the team,'' Michael Jordan, 33, said of Parish. ''He knows the game, and he knows how to prepare his body. The young guys can learn something from him.''

Parish faces a stiff test tonight, when the Bulls play host to the Lakers and Shaquille O'Neal. When Parish entered the league in 1976, O'Neal was 4 years old.

Hardaway at Full Speed

The Miami Heat would not be at 18-5 and leading the Atlantic Division without point guard Tim Hardaway, who is having an All-Star-caliber season. After Hardaway suffered a serious knee injury before the 1993-94 season, many feared that his superb penetration skills would be lost forever. But it often takes two years to fully recover from a serious knee problem. This season, Hardaway looks as good as ever, getting to the basket with his patented crossover dribble.

Hardaway leads Miami in scoring (18.9 points a game) and assists (7.5), and the contract he signed during the off season that pays him $2.5 million this season is a bargain by today's standards. During the summer, Miami made inquiries about the free agents Gary Payton and Chris Childs before re-signing Hardaway. And Hardaway used that as motivation.

''They wanted to go after Chris Childs, Robert Pack, whoever,'' Hardaway said. ''That was their choice, but they had to come back to me. I just waited around, waited around and waited around. Those guys signed nice contracts, but I just had to go ahead, weigh my options and come back and show them they made a mistake by trying to get those guys. They made a mistake by thinking that they're better than me, and I just want to show them they're not.''

Hardaway has made a successful transition from playing an up-tempo style for most of his career with Golden State to a halfcourt style in Miami.

''I'm back to my old self again,'' Hardaway said. ''A lot of people didn't think I could play halfcourt offense, but I knew I could. I just needed the right motivation, the right coach and the right team. Pat Riley, you knew he was going to put a championship team together. I'm happy with this situation. I'm having a lot of fun.''